It is known to heat or cool parts of the human body to prevent or treat injuries, relieve pain, improve flexibility, warm a person in a cold environment, cool a person in a hot environment, and so forth. A common method for heating or cooling a body part is to contact the part with a hot or cold pack, generically referred herein as a thermal transfer element.
There are many well known methods for applying thermal transfer elements to human body parts. One method is to manually hold a thermal transfer element in contact with a body part that is intended to be heated or cooled. This method has significant disadvantages. First, a person must engage the assistance of another in order to apply a thermal transfer element to a hard-to-reach area. Additionally, a person cannot alone simultaneously apply thermal transfer elements to more than a few areas on the body, since a person is only able to use two hands to hold the packs in place. Finally, because the hands of a person using this method will be occupied, the person will be unable to simultaneously engage in other activities that require use of the hands.
Another method for applying a thermal transfer element to a body part is to physically attach the pack to the body part. Straps, wraps, adhesives, and other means have all been used for that purpose, but all still have several disadvantages. First, the person's movement can be restricted by attachment of thermal transfer elements to certain commonly treated parts, such as the knee. Additionally, a user is likely to find it cumbersome to hold the pack in place with one hand while simultaneously trying to use a strap or other means to secure the pack in place. Furthermore, attaching a thermal transfer element too tightly can impede circulation and cause tissue damage by disrupting blood flow through the treated body part. Finally, it is difficult to physically attach a thermal transfer element to certain body parts, such as the back, without engaging the assistance of another.
Many devices and methods have been developed over the years to solve these problems. US 2006/0218692 to Lamarque (publ October 2006), for example, teaches positioning of thermal transfer elements, vibrators, magnets, and a host of other therapeutic components within the cavities of pockets located about a jacket or other garment. Others place thermal pads in pockets of scarves (see U.S. Pat. No. 5,086,629 to Dibrell, February 1992) and cuffs for various parts of the body (see U.S. Pat. No. 4,985,924 to Perry, January 1991, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,625,729 to Roney, December 1986). These and all other extrinsic materials discussed herein are incorporated by reference in their entirety. Where a definition or use of a term in an incorporated reference is inconsistent or contrary to the definition of that term provided herein, the definition of that term provided herein applies and the definition of that term in the reference does not apply.
It turns out that using pockets to position thermal pads, however, is not an especially good solution. Among other things, the location of the thermal transfer element is predetermined by the location of the pockets. U.S. Pat. No. 5,887,437 to Maxim, March 1999 tries to solve that problem by adhering a thermal transfer element directly to the skin. But of course devices using that concept can be extremely uncomfortable.
US 2006/0213156 to Nilfuroshan, (publ. September 2006) teaches a horse blanket, the underside of which has a hook-and-loop attachable material that releasably couples mating material on one or more pockets. The pockets (referred to as cavities) are sized and dimensioned to receive thermal transfer elements, and by moving around the pockets a user can position the thermal transfer elements substantially anywhere on the underside of the blanket. In that application, the concept was directed to non-human animals, which presumably would tolerate a blanket with a plurality of pockets facing the skin.
What is still needed is a method of expanding the horse blanket concept to human clothing, so that a user could position thermal transfer elements around the body, without having a plurality of pockets facing the bare skin of the wearer.